


The Strength of the Soul

by UniverseInk



Category: RWBY
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Queerplatonic Rosegarden, Ruby talks about her trauma for once, not explicitly mentioned tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25440631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniverseInk/pseuds/UniverseInk
Summary: Ruby's been holding everything in since Beacon fell, trying to keep it together for her team. It was bound to come out eventuallyOscar's there to listen
Relationships: Oscar Pine & Ruby Rose
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	The Strength of the Soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YukiLily95](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YukiLily95/gifts).



> This fic is for my friend River, who let me introduce them to RWBY and then listened to me losing my shit while we watched volume 7
> 
> Title is from Indomitable by Jeff Williams

Ruby returns from the meeting at Amity Colosseum alone. Yang, Blake, and Weiss had set out on their missions immediately, and Penny has duties down in Mantle. Her own mission won’t start until tonight. She has some downtime, so she goes to Oscar’s room.

“Hey Ruby,” he says, opening the door for her. “Your meeting’s over?”

“Yeah.” She walks in, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Everyone else has other stuff right now, and I’m kind of getting tired of the Atlas training decks.”

“I know what you mean,” Oscar says, sitting next to her. “I’ve been working with a team from Atlas Academy, FNKI. They’re… interesting.”

Ruby laughs. “Oh yeah, they’re wild. Weiss and Yang faced Flynt and Neon in the second round of the Vytal tournament. It was intense.”

“I bet.” Oscar laughs. “So, what was your meeting about?” 

“Huntsman licenses.” Ruby opens hers on her scroll and hands it over. “General Ironwood says we’re qualified enough after everything we’ve faced. Even though we didn’t really, you know, graduate.”

“Wow,” Oscar smiles at her. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Ruby takes her scroll back, rubbing her thumb over the edge. “You know, I’m not technically old enough to have one.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, most people enter the huntsman academies when they’re seventeen, and you’re not really supposed to be able to get a license before you’re eighteen.”

“But didn’t you _just_ turn seventeen?” Oscar asks.

“Yeah, I was kind of a special case,” Ruby explains. “When I was fifteen, I got caught up in a robbery. There was this criminal, Roman Torchwick, who tried to rob a Dust shop while I was there. I got in trouble for it, actually.”

“Because you didn’t have a license?”

“Well, more because it was reckless and I almost got hurt,” Ruby laughs, scratching the back of her head. “One of the teachers from Beacon, Professor Goodwitch, stepped in. And afterward she introduced me to Professor Ozpin.”

“Really? Why?”

“He wanted to meet me.” Ruby shrugs. “I guess he already knew a little about me from working with Uncle Qrow. We talked a little, and I told him my dream was to go to Beacon. So he said okay, and I was moved up two years.”

“Oh wow, I didn’t realize,” Oscar says. “I mean, I knew you were younger than the others, but I didn’t think…”

“I’m glad I got to go,” Ruby says. “Before the fall, I mean. Even though…” she laughs weakly, tears welling up in her eyes. “Even with everything we lost, at least I got to have one year at Beacon, you know?”

“I guess that makes sense,” Oscar says softly. “It was your dream.”

“It’s not what I expected.” Ruby looks down at her license, biting the inside of her lip. “I was really naive. I just wanted to help people, like my mom and Uncle Qrow did. I didn’t realize how hard it would be.”

“Well, this isn’t really normal for Huntsmen, right?” Oscar asks. “All this stuff with Salem, you couldn’t have seen that coming.”

“Yeah, that’s true. It still feels like I should have, I dunno, done more.” Ruby puts her scroll away. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” she says softly. 

“I mean, everyone makes mistakes,” Oscar says. “And you only had one year of training at Beacon, so it’s… understandable, I guess.”

“I know, but…” Ruby shrugs, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “That doesn’t change what happened. It doesn’t bring Pyrrha back.”

“Pyrrha? She was part of JNPR, right?” Oscar asks hesitantly. 

“Yeah, she was Jaune’s combat partner. She was killed by Cinder.” Ruby hugs herself tighter. “Weiss and I were looking for them, and Jaune called. He said Pyrrha had gone to fight someone at the top of the tower, and we needed to help her.” Ruby stares across the room, eyes unfocused, like she’s watching something that isn’t there. 

“We had to fight our way through the Grimm, and when we got close enough, Weiss used her glyphs so I could run up the side of the tower.” Ruby takes a deep, shuddering breath. “I wasn’t fast enough.”

“I’m so sorry,” Oscar breathes.

“It’s kind of ironic,” Ruby mutters, brushing tears from her eyes. “I mean, I have a speed semblance.”

“It’s not your fault—”

“I watched her _die_ , Oscar.” The confession bursts out of Ruby unbidden. She runs her shaking hands over her face. “I got to the top just in time to see her get shot in the chest. And Cinder… she _burned_ her. There was nothing left. And I— I screamed, and everything went white. I woke up at home, and Uncle Qrow told me…”

“I never told anyone that, about watching her die. I didn’t want to admit it. I had nightmares for months, I had to watch her die over and over.” Ruby hunches forward, pressing a hand to her mouth to stifle her sobs. 

“Can I hug you?” Oscar asks. She nods, and he gently wraps his arms around her shoulders. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Not your fault.”

“I know. I’m still sorry.”

Ruby wipes at her eyes. “One time, back at Beacon, Jaune was having a hard time with this bully. He said he was a failure. Do you know what I told him?”

“What?”

“I told him that he wasn’t allowed to be a failure. That it wasn’t just him anymore, he had a responsibility to his team.” Ruby sniffs. “That wasn’t fair to him.” She sighs. “I know he doesn’t blame me for what happened to Pyrrha. He blames himself, though, and that’s not any better.”

Oscar chews his lip. “He blames Ozpin, too. I can tell. And maybe Qrow.”

“He’s just…” Ruby trails off, considering her words. “He’s hurt, and he’s trying not to be. But I think that just makes him angry. And he wants someone he can blame so he doesn’t have to be angry at himself.”

“That makes sense. You’re pretty smart about all this,” Oscar says. “Like, emotional stuff.”

“I try to be.” Ruby shrugs. “I want to set an example for my team.”

“You do. They all look up to you.” Oscar pauses. “ _We_ all look up to you. I think even Qrow looks up to you.”

Ruby giggles. 

“But you know, what you said earlier, about not being fair to Jaune? I think maybe you aren’t being fair to yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just, like, you don’t have to be strong all the time.” Oscar pulls back, letting his arms fall into his lap. “Your team won’t fall apart if you give yourself a break. And… I think they’d want you to.”

“I can’t, though.” Ruby grips her upper arms, hunching her shoulders. “Between Salem, and the Amity Project, and starting huntsman missions… I just don’t have _time_.”

Oscar pulls his legs onto the bed and hooks his chin over his knees, eyes fixed on the floor. “I don’t know how to make this better.”

“None of us do.” Ruby frowns. “You’re right that we weren’t prepared for this. _I_ wasn’t prepared. I know how to fight the Grimm, but I don’t know how to save the world. I don’t know how to protect Weiss from her family. I don’t know how to help Uncle Qrow get sober. I don’t know how to tell Yang and Blake that I don’t blame them for what they had to do to Adam.”

Ruby takes a deep breath, steadying herself. “Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to be a huntress. I never doubted that. Even now, I still _want_ to be a huntress. The problem is that now I don’t know if I _can_.”

“You can.” Oscar glares at the floor, voice firm. “You’re strong, and smart, and kind. And besides,” Oscar looks up, grinning. “You can laserbeam monsters with your eyeballs.”

Ruby laughs. She keeps laughing, clutching at her stomach. Oscar joins her. It’s not that funny, really, but they collapse into each other anyway, gasping for breath. 

Eventually they get ahold of themselves, still grinning broadly and holding back snickers. Ruby wipes a stray tear from her eye. She takes a deep breath, and the air feels clearer than it has in months. 

“For the record,” Oscar says. “I think you do a really good job leading your team. And I can tell it’s hard on you, it would have to be. But… you do it anyway. You keep us going, keep us… hopeful, I guess. I really admire that about you.”

Ruby smiles. “Thanks, Oscar. And just so you know, I think you’re doing pretty good at all this too.”

Oscar blushes, ducking his head. Ruby grins back at him. 

“We’re gonna be okay,” she says, knocking her shoulder against his. 

“Yeah.” Oscar nods. “I mean, we’ve already done a lot of things I never would have thought were possible. Taking down an immortal evil witch who’s kind of my ex-wife? Piece of cake.” 

Ruby barks a laugh, slapping a hand over her mouth. 

Tonight, she’ll go out on her first official mission as a huntress. There’s so much work to be done, so many obstacles to overcome. They haven’t really solved anything. But Ruby’s chest feels lighter than it has in months. 

For now, that’s enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed


End file.
